Sunday Standout Performances: January

Welcome to a semi-regular feature here at Movies with Abe, returning for the first time in three years. A lot of great performances from the first half of the year are forgotten by the time Oscar movies roll out and awards season comes around. This feature is designed to pay tribute to those actors and actresses who have demonstrated excellence in movies that likely will not be remembered at the end of the year. Maybe praise like this can help. Each edition of Sunday Standout Performances will look at a different month, referencing my reviews of the films mentioned. Since we’re playing catchup now, let’s start by taking a look at January. This one is all about the Spanish speakers.

Carmen Maura (Let My People Go)
“Spanish actress Carmen Maura, a frequent muse of Pedro Almodovar’s, is the standout member of the ensemble, playing his Jewish mother with just the right amount of obsessive and protective attention.” It’s fun to recognize Maura in this context and to see her enhance an admittedly entertaining but still strange story.


Gael Garcia Bernal (No)
“Bernal, whose international popularity continues to be strong, has just the right sensibility to play René. When asked about being a Mexican actor portraying a Chilean at a Q & A following a public screening at the Sundance Film Festival, Bernal responded that the film tackles far more important issues. Bernal answered a question about why the film is important today by emphasizing its subversive questioning of democracy, something he believes exists to be perfected every day.” His is such a natural performance that it blends seamlessly with the film, and having him play someone so initially detached from the emotion of his work is doubly worthwhile when it becomes clear how invested Bernal is in this story.


Sofia Oria and Maribel Verdu (Blancanieves)
“Actress Sofia Oria, who plays Carmencita, is a new face both to Spanish and American audiences, and she draws out the spirit of her character’s struggle ably and compellingly. Maribel Verdu, who had the opportunity to play the heroic rebel Mercedes in “Pan’s Labyrinth,” is superb as Encarna, emoting strongly with her eyes and with her face and delivering a fiercely villainous turn.” These Spanish actresses, one completely new and the other familiar to American audiences from “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Y Tu Mama Tambien,” in which she starred with Bernal, make this underrated black-and-white interpretation of Snow White a haunting success.

Sunday Standout Performances: April

Welcome to a new semi-regular feature here at Movies with Abe. A lot of great performances from the first half of the year are forgotten by the time Oscar movies roll out and awards season comes around. This feature is designed to pay tribute to those actors and actresses who have demonstrated excellence in movies that likely will not be remembered at the end of the year. Maybe praise like this can help. Each edition of Sunday Standout Performances will look at a different month, referencing my reviews of the films mentioned. Here’s a look at the best performances from April.

Carey Mulligan (The Greatest)
“One of the most significant descriptors of ‘The Greatest’ is that it’s Carey Mulligan’s follow-up role to her Oscar-nominated breakout turn in ‘An Education.’ Mulligan showed enormous potential with her wondrous performance in last year’s British drama, and her subsequent role was obviously going to be spectacular, and it’s not a disappointment at all. She’s easily as good, if not better, as the girl who must struggle to be accepted by the family of a boy she loved but barely knew. It’s a majestically layered and tremendous performance that deserves to earn her another Oscar nomination.”

Anthony Hopkins & Laura Linney (The City of Your Final Destination)
“The cast is universally outstanding, featuring terrific breakout crossover performances from the likes of Hiroyuki Sanada (‘Lost’) and Alexandra Maria Lara (‘The Reader’). It’s a majestic return to form for veteran actors Anthony Hopkins and Laura Linney, and a veritable sign that they should be working for years to come.”

The Cast of “Handsome Harry”
“What sets ‘Handsome Harry’ apart from other films about the reunion of any given set of people is the extraordinarily talented cast it features that helps to define a generation. The members of Harry’s unit are a parade of veteran actors, each more talented than the previous performer. Jamey Sheridan, Steve Buscemi, John Savage, Aidan Quinn, Titus Welliver, and Campbell Scott make up one of the finest ensembles recently seen on screen. They all possess the same general sensibility and attitude towards the world, though each exhibits a fascinating variation on that worldview. Each of Harry’s visits is equally meaningful and powerful, and all of the interactions are superbly acted. Sheridan himself is a gifted performer who manages to be believable, relatable, and personable without stealing the show.”

Sunday Standout Performances: March

Welcome to a new semi-regular feature here at Movies with Abe. A lot of great performances from the first half of the year are forgotten by the time Oscar movies roll out and awards season comes around. This feature is designed to pay tribute to those actors and actresses who have demonstrated excellence in movies that likely will not be remembered at the end of the year. Maybe praise like this can help. Each edition of Sunday Standout Performances will look at a different month, referencing my reviews of the films mentioned. Here’s a look at the best performances from March.

Hye-ja Kim (Mother)
“…it’s the performance of Hye-ja Kim as the mother that really ties the film together. She throws herself completely into the role and presents a woman so fiercely loyal to her offspring whose dedication other proud mothers might yearn to mimic, albeit in a less eccentric and crazed manner. After all, the film is about one mother in particular, but the title doesn’t contain her real name. It may be a stretch to say that this film is a cinematic realization of the maternal instinct, but if any film could be classified that way, this would be it.”

Helena Bonham Carter (Alice in Wonderland)
“It’s an entirely magical world brimming with wonder, and even if Alice isn’t ready to accept it as truly existing, audiences can watch with amazement at the stunning visuals and visualization of this classic locale. Nothing is spared in the creation of this universe, and the three-dimensional animation helps to maximize the majesty of this place and instill a sense of enchantment in everything that occurs within its bounds. Helena Bonham Carter is hilarious as the bigheaded Red Queen, and the way she cries out “off with her head” is absolutely terrific.”

Ciarin Hinds & Iben Hjejle (The Eclipse)
“The caliber of the performances more than matches the depth and complexity of the characters. Ciaran Hinds, whose previous credits include background characters in ‘Munich’ and ‘There Will Be Blood’ and Julius Caesar on HBO’s ‘Rome,’ is mesmerizing as Farr. He is muted and solitary but his face says so much when he speaks to his kids and to Morelle, and takes on an entirely different expression of terror when he faces the unknown in the form of a visiting ghost. Iben Hjejle is equally excellent as Morelle, and the way she interacts with Farr and with an egotistical writer named Nicholas Holden (Aidan Quinn) reveals so much about her.”

Sunday Standout Performances: February

Welcome to a new semi-regular feature here at Movies with Abe. A lot of great performances from the first half of the year are forgotten by the time Oscar movies roll out and awards season comes around. This feature is designed to pay tribute to those actors and actresses who have demonstrated excellence in movies that likely will not be remembered at the end of the year. Maybe praise like this can help. Each edition of Sunday Standout Performances will look at a different month, referencing my reviews of the films mentioned. Since we’re still playing catchup, here’s a look at February.

Tahar Rahim (A Prophet)
“Early on in the film, the intense nature of Malik’s situation is already present, and it’s fascinating to see the wheels spinning in this young man’s head. A major part of what makes ‘A Prophet’ so compelling is the lead performance by breakout star Tahar Rahim as Malik. It’s a remarkably subdued and simultaneously vivid portrayal, and permits the audience the opportunity to experience everything Malik goes through with the same seeming detachment and initial unresponsiveness as he exhibits.”

Dominic Chianese (The Last New Yorker)
“Dominic Chianese has certainly earned his reputation as a real New Yorker. He spent seven years battling with his onscreen nephew James Gandolfini for control of the New Jersey mob, and was one of the only people who could actually intimidate the burly Tony Soprano. In the new film from director Harvey Wang, the septuagenarian struts around New York City as if he owns the place. ‘The Last New Yorker’ is a tender film that showcases meaningful performances and a whimsical appreciation of old age and forgotten traditions.”

Shahir Kabaha & Ranin Karim (Ajami)
“‘Ajami’ is made extremely powerful by the use of non-professional actors to portray its characters, which helps to make the film feel even more real. With this kind of story, a sense of reality is extraordinarily important, and that’s perhaps its strongest asset. The ensemble is not focused on honing professional and polished performances but instead on getting to the roots of human tragedy, bigotry, and difficulties in coexistence, and all the actors do a marvelous job. Two members of the cast, Shahir Kabaha, who plays the hard-headed and brave Muslim Omar, and Ranin Karim, who plays his forbidden Christian love Hadir, turn in exceptionally terrific performances.”

Sunday Standout Performances: January

Welcome to a new semi-regular feature here at Movies with Abe. A lot of great performances from the first half of the year are forgotten by the time Oscar movies roll out and awards season comes around. This feature is designed to pay tribute to those actors and actresses who have demonstrated excellence in movies that likely will not be remembered at the end of the year. Maybe praise like this can help. Each edition of Sunday Standout Performances will look at a different month, referencing my reviews of the films mentioned. Since we’re playing catchup now, let’s start by taking a look at January. This one is all about the lead actresses.

Portia Doubleday (Youth in Revolt)
“In the midst of the expected quality of [Michael] Cera’s work, there’s an even more exciting discovery for both Nick and audiences in the form of his muse, played by lovely unknown quantity Portia Doubleday. It’s the romantic chemistry between Doubleday and Cera that drives the story of “Youth in Revolt.” The drooling gaze that takes over Nick’s face after he first sees the impossibly attractive and enticing Sheeni Saunders is especially telling of the lasting infatuation that has overcome the young hero. Their conversations are excessively and hyperbolically mature, and they act as if they’re the only people in the world.”

Katie Jarvis (Fish Tank)
“The most astounding aspect of “Fish Tank” is the debut of its leading actress. Katie Jarvis was only seventeen years when the film was made (she’s now eighteen), and delivers an exceptionally mature performance that resonates well beyond her years. Her casting in the film, which came about as a result of a loud argument with her boyfriend in a train station, proves that Jarvis has an intimate relationship with this character, and she understands and sympathizes with the anger she has inside of her. Mia, the protagonist in “Fish Tank,” is like a cross between Jenny from “An Education” and Precious from “Precious,” but there’s something starkly different about her.”

Émilie Duquenne (The Girl on the Train)
“Few films are fortunate enough to find a starlet whose mere presence serves to electrify and enliven the entire film, where the surrounding story might as well be inconsequential because the lead performance is so captivating. The feat is even more impressive when the film and actress in question are French, a culture where charm might be very present but politeness often is not. Émilie Dequenne, who has been actively appearing in almost two dozen French films over the last decade, is the star whose radiance and beauty, coupled with a disdainful attitude towards productivity, serve to make her an extraordinarily enticing protagonist, Jeanne.”